CIA Museum Director Appears on NBC Nightly News

CIA Museum Director Toni Hiley appeared on NBC Nightly News this summer. Below is the video and transcript of her interview.

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Brian Williams: Finally tonight, if Washington, D.C. is the capital of all museums, and considering this is the height of summer tourist season, we wanted to show you one place not on the tour where the public is not allowed. But it contains vast treasures nonetheless of a secret variety; specifically the tools of the trade of the CIA. Tonight our Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel has been offered a rare look.

Engel: It’s American history but no visitors allowed. The secrecy protects CIA officers undercover.

I love this. Even in your own museum to celebrate the accomplishments, their faces are blurred out. The killing of Usama Bin Ladin is represented here too. This is the mock up. I recognize this from seeing it so many times. This is Bin Ladin's compound. Abbottabad.

Hiley: The original was used for briefing policy makers. To brief the President.

Engel: Brief the President?

Hiley: Absolutely. The assault team used it to plan their raid.

Engel: So tell us more --

Hiley: We had hundreds of pieces of all source intelligence to make it accurate as possible.

Engel: Including the internal spaces?

Hiley: I can't talk about that.

Engel: Can't talk about that?

Hiley: No.

Engel: They can talk about this, Usama Bin Ladin's personal AK-47, recovered by Navy Seals on the night of the raid, much like in the movie "Zero Dark 30." The real one, this one, has never been seen until now.

Hiley: Yes, this is the rifle that was recovered from the third floor of the Abbottabad compound by the assault team. It’s a Russian AK with counterfeit Chinese markings.

Engel: on the night of the raid, bin laden never fired a shot. Now he is gone and his gun is a museum piece. One of thousand here, for private viewing only. Richard Engel, NBC news.

Note – The original Abbottabad Compound 1 Model, is at the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA). The model in the CIA Museum is one of two NGA produced as a historical record.